Log Home Restoration

[Mike Marlow]

The back story - our home is about 35 years old and in all of that time we
have not done a lot of what you might consider routine maintenance. In the
early years after our house was built, we did apply preservatives, but that
was only within the first 5 years or so. After that - the house pretty much
just aged as log homes age. That all went well for a lot of years. But...
at a point we began to notice some things - a bit of log rot here and there,
failure of stains, and a general aging look of the home. So, we properly
deferred any action on those things, until now. This year we decided it was
time to pull the trigger on addressing these issues and restoring our home
to its proper condition. We have a contractor moving on today (7/7/14) to
undertake the following action items - 1) cob blast the entire structure -
some of which is real log construction and some of which is stick built with
lob slab siding, 2) discover and repair any log or log slab rot - this can
be partial log replacement or complete log replacement, 3) apply
preservatives and stains, 4) re-chink as necessary , 5) re-paint trim around
windows/doors, and facia, 5) anything else that is required upon discovery.

Here's a link to where we start from. This is something of a walk-around of
our house, trying to depict the current state of things.

Wouldn't you know that today - as the contractor is moving on... it's
freakin' raining like hell. Oh well...

Here's the link all the same...

http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/mike9369/library/Log%20Home%20Restoration%20-%20Before%20Pictures?sort=3&page=1


Will keep this link updated and anyone interested can take a look over the
next several weeks, for progress

--

-Mike-
mmarlo...@windstream.net

[Sonny]

On Monday, July 7, 2014 11:10:42 AM UTC-5, Mike Marlow wrote:
> Will keep this link updated and anyone interested can take a look over the next several weeks, for progress -- -Mike-

Sounds like a major job, to me. Wish my maintenance projects, home and shop, took only a few weeks to accomplish. Maybe, I should hire a repair crew, for some things.

Your home looks inviting. Very nice!

Sonny

[Casper]

>Mike Marlow

Nice home Mike. Hope the log restoration goes well. Looking forward to
seeing after pictures. Thought about building one of those once but,
like many things in life, it got away from us and time slipped past.

[Mike Marlow]

Sonny wrote:
> On Monday, July 7, 2014 11:10:42 AM UTC-5, Mike Marlow wrote:
>> Will keep this link updated and anyone interested can take a look
>> over the next several weeks, for progress -- -Mike-
>
> Sounds like a major job, to me. Wish my maintenance projects, home
> and shop, took only a few weeks to accomplish. Maybe, I should hire
> a repair crew, for some things.
>

It is indeed a major project! Way more than I was willing to take on by
myself. Those days are gone for me. What they are going to accomplish in
weeks would take me months. They started cob blasting this morning at 7:30
and have the back of the garage done and are moving across the back of the
house now. They figure 3-5 days of blasting - depending on rain.

> Your home looks inviting. Very nice!
>

Thank you Sonny. We can't wait for this work to be done - all of the rot
repaired, new preservative, new stain and a brand new looking house. It
will be very uplifting to see that.

Keep an eye on that link - I'm trying to update it daily. Certainly at each
phase of the project.

--

-Mike-
mmarlo...@windstream.net

[Mike Marlow]

Casper wrote:

>
> Nice home Mike. Hope the log restoration goes well. Looking forward to
> seeing after pictures. Thought about building one of those once but,
> like many things in life, it got away from us and time slipped past.

Thank you! It was always a dream for both of us, so our first (and only)
house was what we both always wanted. It's great seeing how well the logs
are cleaning up with the cob blasting, but what a mess it makes! They clean
up after themselves outside, every night before leaving and they re-use the
cob one time, so things aren't so bad at the end of each day. Inside - we
have to clean up. It's amazing how much infiltrates the house! Guess we
know what we'll be doing every night for the next week. After that - not
very messy at all.

--

-Mike-
mmarlo...@windstream.net

[Leon]

So uh... this picture here......


http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/mike9369/media/Fall%20Woodworking/20131005_131610_zpsb917eedd.jpg.html?filters[user]=128273756&filters[recent]=1&filters[publicOnly]=1&sort=1&o=18



did they find that some if was just not worth saving? ;~O

[Leon]

Well any way, it is the picture of the trailer full of fire wood, l~)

[Mike Marlow]

Actually - they loved that wood but said something about short joints...

--

-Mike-
mmarlo...@windstream.net

[Morgans]

"Leon" <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote

> did they find that some if was just not worth saving? ;~O

You are a sick, sick man, Leon! <g>
--
Jim in NC

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[Lew Hodgett]

"Mike Marlow" wrote:

> Here's the link all the same...
>
> http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/mike9369/library/Log%20Home%20Restoration%20-%20Before%20Pictures?sort=3&page=1
>
>
> Will keep this link updated and anyone interested can take a look
> over the next several weeks, for progress

------------------------------------------------------
Any updates?

Lew

[Mike Marlow]

They moved on to chinking last week and I have to post a few pictures of
that. The log rot/bug damage is all repaired and that is documented on the
photobucket site. I hope to upload some chinking pictures tonight. That
process will continue for the coming week, at which point they should be
able to move on to stain and trim paint. The above link no longer works,
because I reorganized the library to make it more logical. Here's the link
to the top level library for the restoration work - beneath this are
intuitive sub-levels.

http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/mike9369/library/Log%20Home%20Restoration%20Project?sort=3&page=1

--

-Mike-
mmarlo...@windstream.net

[G. Ross]

Mike Marlow wrote: > Lew Hodgett wrote: >> "Mike Marlow" wrote: >>> Here's the link all the same... >>> http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/mike9369/library/Log%20Home%20Restoration%20-%20Before%20Pictures?sort=3&page=1 >>> Will keep this link updated and anyone interested can take a look >>> over the next several weeks, for progress >> ------------------------------------------------------ >> Any updates? > They moved on to chinking last week and I have to post a few pictures of > that. The log rot/bug damage is all repaired and that is documented on the > photobucket site. I hope to upload some chinking pictures tonight. That > process will continue for the coming week, at which point they should be > able to move on to stain and trim paint. The above link no longer works, > because I reorganized the library to make it more logical. Here's the link > to the top level library for the restoration work - beneath this are > intuitive sub-levels. > http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/mike9369/library/Log%20Home%20Restoration%20Project?sort=3&page=1 Very interesting! Keep us up to date with the pictures. GW Ross We find the defendant innocent by reason of being generally clueless.

[Mike Marlow]

Just got done uploading some pictures under the album title Chink Repair.
Got a little behind this past week because this weekend our youngest
daughter got married, and between that and my day job, i kinda slipped
behind a bit with keeping the house pictures up to date. But - that's all
passed now and hopefully I can keep a little more abreast of things as they
develop.

--

-Mike-
mmarlo...@windstream.net

[k...@attt.bizz]

Now you'll have time to catch up on your house pictures as your wallet
catches up. (Only one son and they're cheap anyway ;-)

[Mike Marlow]

k...@attt.bizz wrote:

>
> Now you'll have time to catch up on your house pictures as your wallet
> catches up. (Only one son and they're cheap anyway ;-)

Geeze - no kidding! After three daughters, I'm not sure I can even afford
to take pictures anymore - and I'm talking digital pictures...

All kidding aside - my daughter and her new husband paid a lot of their own
way for this wedding. His mom threw in some money and we threw in a bunch
of money - but less than the family of the bride typically throws in these
days. It just all seened to come at once for us so the impact was
signficant - especially at the time when we're writing checks to the
contractor. But - all is well.

--

-Mike-
mmarlo...@windstream.net

[Swingman]

On 7/27/2014 5:47 PM, Mike Marlow wrote:

> Got a little behind this past week because this weekend our youngest
> daughter got married,

Congratulations!

We should all be so lucky. ;)

--
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https://plus.google.com/+KarlCaillouet/posts
http://www.custommade.com/by/ewoodshop/
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)

[Mike Marlow]

Swingman wrote:
> On 7/27/2014 5:47 PM, Mike Marlow wrote:
>
>> Got a little behind this past week because this weekend our youngest
>> daughter got married,
>
> Congratulations!
>
> We should all be so lucky. ;)

Thanks Karl. That was the last of four. Now - time to sit back and wait
for more grandchildren.

--

-Mike-
mmarlo...@windstream.net

[no...@none.com]

On Mon, 28 Jul 2014 08:19:14 -0500, Swingman <k...@nospam.com> wrote:

>> Got a little behind this past week because this weekend our youngest
>> daughter got married,

>Congratulations!
>We should all be so lucky. ;)

Been hoping there to marry off your daughter Karl? :)

[Swingman]

Let me put it this way, would not hurt my feelings in the least.

[no...@none.com]

On Mon, 28 Jul 2014 10:11:12 -0500, Swingman <k...@nospam.com> wrote:
>>> Congratulations!
>>> We should all be so lucky. ;)
>> Been hoping there to marry off your daughter Karl? :)
>Let me put it this way, would not hurt my feelings in the least.

Shouldn't be too hard. ~ It's called a dowry. ROTFL!

[G. Ross]

Mike Marlow wrote: > Lew Hodgett wrote: >> "Mike Marlow" wrote: >>> Here's the link all the same... >>> http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/mike9369/library/Log%20Home%20Restoration%20-%20Before%20Pictures?sort=3&page=1 >>> Will keep this link updated and anyone interested can take a look >>> over the next several weeks, for progress >> ------------------------------------------------------ >> Any updates? > They moved on to chinking last week and I have to post a few pictures of > that. The log rot/bug damage is all repaired and that is documented on the > photobucket site. I hope to upload some chinking pictures tonight. That > process will continue for the coming week, at which point they should be > able to move on to stain and trim paint. The above link no longer works, > because I reorganized the library to make it more logical. Here's the link > to the top level library for the restoration work - beneath this are > intuitive sub-levels. > http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/mike9369/library/Log%20Home%20Restoration%20Project?sort=3&page=1 What do they use for chinking log homes? GW Ross We find the defendant innocent by reason of being generally clueless.

[Mike Marlow]

G. Ross wrote:

>
> What do they use for chinking log homes?

It's a synthetic compound that has excellent adheasion properties as well as
elasticity so that it is not affected by the normal movement of the logs
through weather changes. The chink that we are using is a Sashco product.
It is applied by a gun resembling a large caulk gun, and then tooled in
using wet foam brushes in a manner much like pointing up mortar joints in a
block wall. Properly applied, today's chinking compounds are supposed to
last 40-50 years. Of course the products in use today have not been around
for 40-50 years, so there is no real world evidence of these claims.

--

-Mike-
mmarlo...@windstream.net

[G. Ross]

Mike Marlow wrote: > G. Ross wrote: >> What do they use for chinking log homes? > It's a synthetic compound that has excellent adheasion properties as well as > elasticity so that it is not affected by the normal movement of the logs > through weather changes. The chink that we are using is a Sashco product. > It is applied by a gun resembling a large caulk gun, and then tooled in > using wet foam brushes in a manner much like pointing up mortar joints in a > block wall. Properly applied, today's chinking compounds are supposed to > last 40-50 years. Of course the products in use today have not been around > for 40-50 years, so there is no real world evidence of these claims. Sounds like a great improvement. The one my dad was born in probably used clay and Spanish moss. GW Ross It is the journey that matters, in the end.

[Sonny]

On Tuesday, July 29, 2014 8:25:35 AM UTC-5, Mike Marlow wrote:
> G. Ross wrote:

> > What do they use for chinking log homes?

> It's a synthetic compound

I'm ignorant of log homes, for the most part.... their construction, repair, etc. Chinking and rot repair are obvious, but I don't have a clue as to what cob blasting is.

*Almost all I know, about logs, is to mill them into lumber.

Sonny

[Mike Marlow]

It's probably exactly what you thought it might be - ground up dried corn
cob. The stuff is ground to the consistency of sand - or maybe a little
larger. It's then blasted on using a sandblaster at very high cfm ratings
(the one my crew used was something like 240 CFM) and pressures somewhere
around 180 psi. It has all of the abrasiveness that it needs to do the
work, has the added advantage that it is biodegradable so what may end up
laying around in the yard is no probelm, and is probably the oldest of the
blasting technologies for a log home. More and more crews are going to
ground glass blasting which is 20% cheaper and faster, but has its own
drawbacks - primarily that it's not degradable at all. Cob blasting has the
added advantage that it will not harm glass so there is no requirement to
mask off windows. It does have to be blown out good afterwards so that you
don't end up with cob in cracks, etc. that could result in mold down the
road, but that's a pretty simply and quick step in the whole process.

--

-Mike-
mmarlo...@windstream.net

[Sonny]

On Tuesday, July 29, 2014 2:11:49 PM UTC-5, Mike Marlow wrote:
> > It's probably exactly what you thought it might be - ground up dried corn cob.

I didn't have a clue. I wasn't thinking of a sand blasting-type technique. I had thought "cob" meant some aspect of the log home or some aspect of the construction, and that the "cob" aspect of the home (of the home construction) was being blasted. I wasn't familiar with the ground corn cob, for surface blasting/cleaning/resurfacing. Sounds very safe and reasonable. Thanks for the explanation. I needed updating.

Sonny

[Leon]

What's up with the dudes, one shirtless, holding hands in the corner? :-)

[Mike Marlow]

Youthful indiscretion.

--

-Mike-
mmarlo...@windstream.net